Zechariah 11:4

Flock of the slaughter] RV 'flock of slaughter.' i.e. destined or reared for slaughter. This might point to the cruel oppressions and martyrdoms in the times of the Maccabees.

5, 6. According to some views the possessors (RM 'buyers') are those ethnarchs and high priests in Jerusalem who were merely puppets of the Seleucid sovereigns. The latter farmed out the high offices to the highest bidder, who in turn oppressed the people by fraud and extortion.

7. The prophet takes up the office of shepherd (cp. Jeremiah 25:1; Ezekiel 3:4), but finds his task too difficult. He pities the poor oppressed people, but feels, at the same time, that they are so ignorant of their own good as to be unable to appreciate a beneficent ruler. But see 12:21. Beauty] better, 'Favour,' a symbol of God's protecting care. Bands] i.e. 'unity,' a symbol of His desire to make peace among the people. 8. This is an allusion to some event of the time, of which nothing is now known.

9. The good shepherd leaves the flock. According to a recent view the good shepherd, who in despair abandoned the flock, was Hyrcanus, the son of Joseph (see Jos. 'Ant.'

12. 4), who may have been paid to leave Jerusalem (Zechariah 11:12), but at a price so small that he threw it into the treasury in disgust.

10. The prophet declares that God has broken His covenant of mercy with Israel.

People] better, 'nation,' i.e. Israel regarded as tribes.